Tiraspol, 2 March. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. To learn problems of public concern and explain reasons for unpopular decisions made by the authorities was the goal of a meeting of Yevgeny Shevchuk with Public Chamber members, which took place in the House of Official Receptions today.
For obvious reasons the talk almost at once turned to economic issues, and one of the most pressing questions was asked first — about the terms of the redemption of salary indebtedness to public sector employees.
«When debts were paid off to all pensioners, everyone was very happy and thought that in January or February a redemption schedule would be worked out so that a public sector worker could see a prospect. May we hope for any result by the end of the quarter?” asked Tamara Chernenko.
«Prospects are determined by concrete sources stipulated in the budget law. And the law is only passing the first reading today, though it was submitted back in December. But even the draft budget does not determine the source in full. It is being searched for now. And the more substantial, full of real money, this source will be, the sooner the salary indebtedness will be cleared,” replied the president.
He reminded chamber members that the unpopular decision to pay pensions and public sector salaries at an amount of 70% was made due to a sharp deterioration in the country’s economic situation. The 2015 budget had been approved with an unsecured deficit of 500 million roubles, and the coffers further fell short of 600 million roubles due to a fall in tax payments.
«Besides, it was decided to accumulate certain reserves to minimise possible implications which might have arisen if the EU had lifted its trade preferences for Pridnestrovie in January 2016. Also in connection with an escalation of the situation on the Ukrainian border and a danger of provocations, we had to create a mobilisation resource,” noted Yevgeny Shevchuk.
The president underscored that Pridnestrovie was the only CIS country to avoid devaluing its currency and maintained macroeconomic stability.
At the same time, the state of the Pridnestrovian economy is continuing to worsen. In January-February, all cities and districts saw a drop in tax revenues. Another economic question referred to Russian pensions, and particularly those residents who want to return to receiving Pridnestrovian pensions due to a sharp decline in the exchange rate of the Russian rouble.
«How can we reassure such people and persuade them to go on receiving the Russian pension?” asked Vladimir Kozachenko.
«We cannot secure the stability of the Russian currency; this task seems impossible for us. There are populist suggestions to allocate additional funds to such pensioners from our budget. But how is it possible if the budget is deficient? And what shall we do when the Pridnestrovian currency starts devaluing, there are such variants. This is a possible scenario with tax revenues further falling. According to experts, we may find ourselves in such a situation in several months,” said the president.
Yevgeny Shevchuk also said that it is in the last year when Pridnestrovians began to receive Russian pensions in the country.
